Stepparent Adoption

The process of adoption enables the stepparent and child, who are not biological, to have a legal parent-child connection. As soon as the proceedings are settled by the stepparent adoption lawyer, the adoptive parent, then, in turn, has equal rights and responsibilities as legal or birth parents (Family Code 8616.) At the Law Offices of Rossana Mitchell, we would be pleased to aid you with your adoption needs.

Our California law firm is passionate about coming to a solution that is long-term in any legal challenge that you may be facing. We start by developing a tailored strategy to discover your goals and uncover the context of your legal problems. We give all of our customers personalized attention for the entire duration of their case.

The Process For Stepparent Adoption in California

Being a single biological parent that is the only active parent overseeing the care and upbringing of a child, you may one day choose to remarry. You and your new spouse may choose to hire a family adoption lawyer and legally have your spouse adopt your child. In order to complete this process, you will need the help of a step-parent adoption lawyer.

A step parent that is interested in this process understands the exciting roller coaster ride they are about to embark on and the multitude of benefits, emotional, legal, and financial, that are involved in this process.

In a stepparent adoption, with the help of a child adoption attorney or a private adoption attorney, the biological parent that is responsible for the upbringing and care of the child will retain their parental rights, but the rights of the other biological parent will be severed with the child. The other biological parent will then lose all their responsibility and rights to the child. (See Fam Code 8548 and Fam Code 8617) The adopting parents will now acquire all the responsibilities and rights of the biological parent.

In the state of California, stepparent adoption is a permanent transfer of the rights and responsibilities of the child. Once you finalize this process with your stepparent adoption lawyer, this cannot be nullified or revoked, except in specific rare situations. Some of these include fraud, legal defect, or a disability that is discovered within 5 years of the adoption (See Fam Code 9100-9102). The adoption is not nullified if the biological parent and adopted parents choose to divorce and will still be in effect after the divorce.

In situations where these adoptions are contested, our offices with Rosanna Mitchell can offer our clients a hands-on and experienced team for litigation that will fight for our client’s rights. If a parent is unwilling to terminate their rights, it is possible to have a judge involuntarily terminate their rights for uninvolved parents. Your stepparent adoption lawyer can become instrumental in bringing the court’s attention to unpaid child support, or a lack of contact on the other biological parent’s behalf. Your step-parent adoption lawyer is also able to help in cases where paternity is not established.

Grandparents can also pursue legal adoption of a child in order to be able to provide the child with benefits such as health insurance and financial support that they would not have had access to without an adoption. This is a common way that grandparents are able to better provide for their grandkids in a stable living situation. No matter what kind of adoption you are looking to have, the Law Office of Rosanna Mitchell is here for you.

Give the Law Office of Rosanna Mitchell a call at (909) 597-3111 to get your free stepparent adoptions consultation today.